The peach one is really a nice flower.

As far as thick stalks - some of the giants get to be thicker than a broom-stick and 6 ft tall

mandolls said:The peach one is really a nice flower.

As far as thick stalks - some of the giants get to be thicker than a broom-stick and 6 ft tall

So if it's already thicker than a broom stick and only 20 inches tall do I have a problem or potential?

Definite potential!

mandolls said:Definite potential!

This plant has a broom stick sized stalk and is only 28 inches tall. It's first bud is poking out.

Did I do something wrong?

I doubt if you did anything wrong - the yellow veining and the slight crinkling of the leaves may mean that it has a virus of some sort - and there isn't anything you can do about that. A lot of dahlia stock out there is infected with one virus or another. It is possible that the signs are from a lack of nutrition. You might try a foliar feed and see if that makes a difference. If you have other dahlias nearby that are taller and greener - then its probably virus related.

As for height - there are quite a few dahlias that only get to 3 ft or even less, so it depends on the variety.

mandolls said:I doubt if you did anything wrong - the yellow veining and the slight crinkling of the leaves may mean that it has a virus of some sort - and there isn't anything you can do about that. A lot of dahlia stock out there is infected with one virus or another. It is possible that the signs are from a lack of nutrition. You might try a foliar feed and see if that makes a difference. If you have other dahlias nearby that are taller and greener - then its probably virus related.

As for height - there are quite a few dahlias that only get to 3 ft or even less, so it depends on the variety.

I'll look into the feeder.

I had no idea it might have a virus, it's the only one that has any yellow in it. The rest are emerald green.

Appreciate the education. I didn't think about a lack of nutrients, I guess I assumed since my Roses were growing so well that the soil had plenty of good stuff in it.

Thank you again.

I know this is a late post, but did you put any water in this smaller cup? I also haven't seen too much of putting the head of the river out of the soil....I'm wondering if I should try this on some of my tubers

The lovely Citron de Cap dahlia in my profile photo is taking for.ev.er. to sprout this year. Does anyone grow this one? It's a beauty!

I start my tall dahlias early in March. All sprouted and broke ground before being hardened outside and then planted except for Citron. I dug them up, and sure enough, quite a few had sprouts just starting. Finally, one has broken ground this month. That is 3-4 months to break ground!

I did split in the fall and planted some with no visible eyes in March just to see, and it turned out that a few didn't have eyes. I'm going to split in the Spring next time and possibly split a bit less.

I'm very excited that my new Bridezilla and OMG dahlias from Swan have already broken ground and are well on their way despite being planted straight in the ground at the end of May. Perhaps just the rain, warmer ground and real sun move them along faster...Or Citron is just a diva. :D

Oldfatguy said:

@mandolls

I staked a couple of them at planting but I didn't have anything for staking at the time.

The way I have most of them planted in one large hole and three of them making a triangle inside the hole, two in back one in front. Anyway with the way they are since I was out of stakes at the time I planned on making something to support them that sits above ground from deck railing spindles once they start growing.

I'll take a pic once I make them since my description is kind of blah.

All of them should get around 4 feet or so. They are all in full sun except for one set of three that in the mid afternoon get shade from my neighbors garage.

Will full sun keep them shorter?

In one of my flower gardens where I put a few dahlias, my Citron de Cap will get over 6 ft tall! It still gets lots of beautiful blooms, but only about 6 hours of sun or so, so they grow tall. They grow to reach the sun!

Attached are some photos from when it first started blooming. I have another dahlia-only garden that gets 7-8 hours of sun to full, and they won't get as tall there.

My Citron gets tall too - similar sun. Its a nice one!

I used to live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio. I never tackled Dahlias because of all the work of digging, drying, tagging, budding, replanting, etc...

So here I am, twenty years later in the Central Valley of Northern California (think Joaquin, Stanislaus, Amador counties) Recently I moved to a house with a huge back yard. It's zone 9A - and I ran into a gorgeous yellow Dahlia at Lowes... aaand, since I have SO much space I thought, "Hey, I can grow Dahlias."

I ordered a bunch of bulbs from Eden Brothers. There was a 50% off sale on end of Spring/Summer shipped bulbs. I may have gotten carried away. At any rate, now I'm trying to figure out what works for Dahlias in an area that is hot in the summer (80-105 daytime, 60-75 night), with almost no precipitation during late Spring and Summer. (not sure about Fall and Winter)

I don't want the bulbs to rot, but everything else gets watered every Tu, Th, Sa. So I've put them in the ground and I've turned off the irrigation... but if I don't water them at all, the soil will get rock hard and all the budding tubers are going to ... well, certainly not rot. So I'm trying to figure out how much to water them. It's heartening to discover that all the warnings about 'do not water' are more guidelines rather than dire predictions of dissolution, destruction and sorrow. All the comments here are so helpful, especially since I've gardened so much in the Midwest and I have a general sense of water, sun, heat, etc...

I'm fishing around my local area for a Garden Club with some zone knowledge. I haven't seriously done any gardening since I moved out to CA from IN around 1999. This is going to be an interesting learning curve. I'll post as I figure things out, hoping to pass along the learning to someone else so they can save money (and beauty).

Thank you all!

Glad to have you with us.

If you've planted them already (I assume you have) then the foliage will indicate the watering demands (they will wilt without enough water) but even here in zone 7 my irrigation system goes on three times a week so I'd think you're safe.

When you read about not watering them as you plant them, they are trying to avoid rotting the tubers with too much water. Until growth begins the tuber provides everything for the dahlia to grow.

What are the names of your dahlias?

Erin do you pinch your citron and it still gets that tall?

A lot of blooms out there now. About 2 dozen more with buds. A fun time of year.

Lindley,
Did you ever figure out to water or not to water tubers planted in very hot climates? I'm wondering the same thing this year?

Clydia, I usually just wing it in my garden. I don't take gardening that seriously. it should be fun. if the soil looks dry and the plants look wilted, then it's time to water but I never let it get to that point. luckily I have well drained soil. some areas of my garden are much dryer than others as the soil is a bit sandy. after planting my tubers I did not water. I let mother nature do that for me. after almost a month and very slow growth I decided to give everything a drink. 2 days later they were coming up. I supposed they needed some encouragement. some tubers are up more than others. they weathers hasn't been that great either. the end of the week will bring much warmer temps so I'm hoping the rest of the slow pokes catch up.